Updates, advisories and surprises

California Pizza Kitchen prelim rev, same-store sale up (9:02 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- California Pizza Kitchen Inc.
CPKI
on Tuesday after the closing bell said preliminary first-quarter revenue was $110.3 million, a 11.9% increase from the same period a year ago. Same-store sales for the period rose 9.3%. The Los Angeles-based company increased its quarterly earnings forecast to a range of 21 cents to 22 cents a share from its prior outlook of 18 cents to 19 cents a share. The restaurant chain also said that its co-chief executive officers, Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, signed 5-year employment contracts.

King Pharma CFO to retire June 1; sets 2005 rev view (6:17 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- King Pharmaceuticals
KG, -1.96%
said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday that its Chief Financial Officer James Lattanzi will retire on June 1. The company said it entered into a retirement and consulting agreement with Lattanzi on April 5. Separately, in a conference call earlier in the day, the Bristol, Tenn.-based company forecast 2005 revenue of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. It didn't forecast earnings for the year, due to the uncertainty about continued exclusivity of its Skelaxin muscle relaxant product. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call currently expect King Pharmaceuticals to report 2005 earnings of 87 cents a share on revenue of $1.52 billion.

CORRECT: Merrill trims Franklin, Janus estimates (5:37 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Merrill Lynch stock analyst Guy Moszkowski trimmed first-quarter earnings estimates for Franklin Resources Inc.
BEN, -1.92%
on Tuesday to 89 cents a share from 90 cents a share, writing in a research note to clients that he expects weak stock and bond markets will slow the mutual fund company's near-term earnings growth. Moszkowski also cut his full-year estimate to $3.76 a share from $3.79 a share, but raised his outlook for the firm's organic growth. Separately, Moszkowski cut his first-quarter earnings estimate for Janus Capital Group
JNS
to 12 cents a share from 13 cents a share. He said shares of Janus are "not inexpensive," trading at 27 times his full-year estimate of 51 cents a share. (This corrects to reflect that Janus esimates were lowered as well).

Faro posts 30% rise in 1Q sales (5:26 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Faro Technologies
FARO, +0.68%
after the closing bell Tuesday reported that first-quarter sales were $27.3 million, up 30% from $21 million a year ago. The Lake Mary, Fla.-based said that new order bookings rose 31.4% to $25.1 million. Faro also reaffirmed its 2005 sales outlook of $121 million to $126 million.

Smurfit-Stone sees quarterly loss of 7c (5:25 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.
SSCI, -0.26%
said Tuesday after the bell that it expects to record a first-quarter loss of 7 cents a share. The Chicago-based company said mill operating rates fell to 88% from 94% in the fourth quarter. The company said it expects to return to profitability in the second quarter.

Technical Olympic 1Q new sales down 3% (5:20 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technical Olympic USA
TOA, +14.04%
said after the closing bell Tuesday that new sales orders fell 3% in the first quarter to 2,735 units. The homebuilder's sales volume of homes in backlog rose 51% to $1.8 billion, from $1.2 billion a year ago.

Brillian's 2004 10-K contains going concern (5:05 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Brillian Corp.
BRLC
said after the closing bell Tuesday that its 2004 Form 10-K contains a going concern statement from its auditors. The Tempe, Ariz.-based company said that its recurring operating losses and negative cash flows are the reason for the going concern qualification.

UTStarcom ticker symbol changes to 'UTSIE' (4:59 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- UTStarcom Inc.
UTSIE
Tuesday after the closing bell said that as of April 7, its ticker symbol changed to "UTSIE" from "UTSI" because of its inability to file its 2004 Form 10-K on time. The company said that it expects to file the report on or before April 15.

Wet Seal delays release of Q4, 2004 financial results (4:40 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Wet Seal Inc.
WTSLA
said Tuesday after the closing bell that it will delay the release of its fourth-quarter and 2004 financial results and file for an extension to file its 2004 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The clothing and accessory retailer was expected to release the financial results this afternoon, with two analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call expecting a quarterly loss of 51 cents a share.

Manugistics loss narrows, revenue falls 22% (4:23 PM ET) LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Manugistics Group Inc.
MANU, +0.51%
late Tuesday said its fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to $17.2 million, or 21 cents a share, from a year-earlier loss of $57.5 million, or 74 cents a share. Revenue for the three-month period ended Feb. 28 fell 22% to $45.2 million from $57.8 million as software revenue more than halved. Excluding one-time items, the maker of supply chain management software said it would have reported a loss of 3 cents a share, widening from a loss of 1 cent a share in the comparable period of the previous year. On average, Wall Street analysts had expected the Rockville, Md., company to post a loss of 4 cents a share on revenue of $46.9 million, according to a Thomson First Call survey.

Innovo narrows 1Q loss (4:11 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Innovo Group
INNO, -8.26%
Tuesday after the closing bell reported a first-quarter loss of $818,000, or 3 cents a share, narrower than its loss of $5 million, or 19 cents a share, a year ago. Net sales for the quarter were $23.1 million, compared with $13 million in 2004.

Franklin Covey swings to quarterly profit (4:10 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Franklin Covey Co.
FC, +0.19%
Tuesday after the closing bell reported second-quarter earnings of $4.9 million, or 19 cents a share. Last year, the company reported a loss of $2 million, or 10 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter was $82.5 million vs. $78.7 million last year.

U.S. March budget gap wider than expected at $71.2B (2:02 PM ET) WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)-- The U.S. government spent $71.2 billion more in March than it collected, The Treasury Department said Tuesday. Earlier, the Congressional Budget Office had estimated the budget deficit at $68 billion. Receipts were up about 12% in March from the previous March, while outlays rose about 7%. Halfway through fiscal 2005, the government deficit totaled $294.7 billion, down from $301.4 billion this time a year ago. Year-to-date, individual income taxes are up 8.5% and corporate income taxes are up 48%. (Corrects typographical error in budget numbers)

France's Carrefour first-quarter sales up nearly 4% (12:06 PM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- French retailer Carrefour(FR:012017)said sales in the first quarter rose 3.9% to 19.59 billion euros with same-store sales up 1.8%, close to consensus forecasts. Sales in France rose 0.9% in the quarter to 9.38 billion euros. The retailer said it now had 11,261 stores in its portfolio, and remained on track to deliver at least one million square metres of new space in 2005, as it had previously stated.

Griffin Land & Nurseries quarterly loss widens slightly (10:15 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc.
GRIF, -0.13%
on Tuesday posted a first-quarter loss of $1.5 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.4 million, or 29 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue at the New York-based nursery operator and real estate company rose to $3.3 million from $2.9 million.

Arrow to request 10-Q filing extension from SEC (10:05 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Arrow International
ARRO
said Tuesday that it will request a filing deadline extension from the Securities and Exchange Commission for its second-quarter Form 10-Q. The company said that it needs the additional time to complete its financial review, which has been delayed by its recent decision to discontinue its left ventricular assist system. Arrow also said that it expects to report a $4.3 million reduction in sales in the third quarter due to changes in its accounting of shipping terms.

Mosaic reduces 3Q earns by $4.1M on accounting adj (9:55 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Mosaic Co.
MOS, -1.95%
said Tuesday that it has revised its third-quarter earnings due to a non-cash purchase accounting adjustment. The revision resulted in reducing earnings by $4.1 million to $38.8 million. On a per-share basis, the revision reduces third-quarter earnings to 9 cents a share, compared with the 10 cents a share previously reported.

Microtek Medical sees 1Q revs of $34M (9:27 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Microtek Medical Holdings
MTMD
said Tuesday that it expects revenue of about $34 million in the first quarter, an increase of roughly 15 percent from last year. Shares of the Alpharetta, Ga., supplier of medical products closed Monday at $3.38, down 4 percent.

Alliance Capital sees Q1 earns below Wall St. view (9:18 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Alliance Capital Management
AC, -1.20%
said Tuesday that it expects first-quarter results to come in below Wall Street's current consensus estimate for a profit of 66 cents per holding unit due to weak investment advisory fees, mark-to-market losses on investments related to employee compensation plans and substanially higher than expected legal fees. The company added that its assets declined $11 billion in March to $534 billion. The stock closed Monday at $46.72, down 1.3 percent.

Computer Associates sees Q4 operating earns in-line (9:12 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Computer Associates
CA, -1.15%
said Tuesday that it expects operating earnings for the fourth quarter to meet its prior projection of 19 to 20 cents per share. It also expects revenue to range from $900 million to $920 million, in line with its previous outlook. The Islandia, N.Y., management software company also said it plans to record a tax charge of roughly $35 million, or 6 cents per share, in the period related to its decision to repatriate $500 million in cash under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. In light of this charge, the company now sees earnings including items of 1 to 2 cents per share for the quarter, below its previous projection of 7 to 8 cents per share. The stock closed Monday at $27.23, down 13 cents.

Gannett 1Q net declines to $265.7M vs year-ago $274.4M (8:59 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gannett Co.
GCI, -0.92%
reported first-quarter earnings of $265.7 million, or $1.05 per share, down from its year-ago profit of $274.4 million, or $1 per share. Revenue at the McLean, Va., newspaper publisher rose 3.6% to $1.79 billion in the latest three months from $1.73 billion in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for earnings of $1.06 per share in the March period on revenue of $1.79 billion. The company said revenue growth for its newspaper business was "solid" despite much softer advertising demand at the end of March, while its broadcasting business was hurt by a substantially lower level of political advertising and the absence of the Super Bowl on its six CBS affiliates. Gannett also said its performance was tempered by higher newsprint and interest expenses and certain employee benefit costs. The stock closed Monday at $78.81, down 24 cents.

Travelzoo's 1Q revs come in below Wall St. view (8:46 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Travelzoo Inc.
TZOO, -3.50%
Tuesday reported first-quarter earnings of $1.8 million, or 10 cents per share, up from a year-ago equivalent profit of $1 million, or 5 cents per share. Revenue rose in the latest three months to $11.2 million from $6.5 million in the same period a year earlier. The online publisher of travel offers said the latest results include a charge of $984,000 related to cash payments to former shareholders. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a profit of 14 cents per share in the March period on revenue of $12.5 million. The stock closed Monday at $46.30, up 3.4%.

Marshall & Ilsley Q1 net income rises 16% (8:43 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Marshall & Ilsley
MI
on Tuesday reported first-quarter net income $169.6 million, or 73 cents per share, up 16% from $146.1 million, or 65 cents per share, last year. The Milwaukee-based bank was expected to earn 71 cents per share, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson First Call. Return on average assets based on net income for the first quarter was 1.68 percent, as compared to 1.69 percent last year. Shares rose 4 cents to $41.90 on Monday.

Spherion warns of Q1 results miss (8:42 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Spherion Corp.
SFN, -1.81%
warned that 1Q earnings would be at the low end of its expected range of 3 to 7 cents a share, which excludes expected restructuring related charges, and revenue is expected to be slightly below prior projections of $510 million to $530 million. The staffing services company attributed the quarter's weakness to a client's decision to not renew a contract and a greater-than-expected decline in demand for clerical and light industrial temporary staffing. The company said it would eliminate certain positions as a result of the loss of contract and other restructuring activities, which will lead to a $2 million charge to first-quarter results. The stock closed Monday up 3 cents at $7.28.

PriceSmart quarterly loss narrows (8:27 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- PriceSmart Inc.
PSMT, -0.06%
said Tuesday its fiscal second-quarter net loss narrowed to $3.2 million, or 16 cents a share, from $4.5 million, or 61 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The net loss in the most recent quarter included charges accruing to more than $3 million for past customs duties, the closure of clubs in Mexico and other items. The year-ago loss included $840,000 in preferred dividend payments, PriceSmart said. Revenue for the three months ended Feb. 28 increased to $182.7 million from $165.6 million a year ago. Thomson First Call doesn't publish analysts' estimates for the San Diego warehouse club. Shares closed up 6 cents at $7.47 Monday.

Ceridian Q1 adj. earns to top expectations (8:22 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Ceridian
CEN, -3.77%
said it expects 1Q earnings of 15 to 16 cents a share. Excluding one-time charges related to severance costs and interest rate derivatives, the estimate would be 18 to 19 cents a share, vs. the average analyst estimate compiled by Thomson First Call of 16 cents. For 2005, earnings are expected to be 68 to 75 cents, and excluding special items are projected to be 71 to 78 cents a share, vs. analyst forecasts of 78 cents. The information services company said it would restate its 2000 to 2004 results due to lease accounting changes. The stock closed Monday down 12 cents at $16.76.

Black & Decker boosts 1Q earns view on strong sales (7:52 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Black & Decker Corp.
BDK
lifted its outlook on Tuesday, saying it now expects earnings before items of $1.33 to $1.35 per share in the first quarter. The Towson, Md., tool maker previously forecast earnings before items ot $1.05 to $1.10 per share for the quarter. The company cited continuing strong sales, especially in its North American Power Tools and Accessories business. The company added that it's comfortable with Wall Street's current consensus estimate for earnings of $1.67 per share in the second quarter. The stock closed Monday at $79.67, up 1.3%.

Universal Forest Products income grows 65% (7:47 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Universal Forest Products Inc.
UFPI, -0.24%
said after the market closed Monday it earned $9.2 million, or 49 cents a share in the first quarter, compared to $5.6 million, or 30 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Net sales rose to $537.2 million from $465.7 million. The wood products and paneling maker reaffirmed its 2005 outlook for a 7% to 12% sales increase and a 10% to 15% rise in earnings over 2004. Shares rose Monday by 22 cents to $38.

Artesyn Tech. warns of Q1 earns, rev. shortfall (7:41 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Artesyn Technologies Inc.
ATSN
warned that 1Q earnings would be 5 to 6 cents a share, below the average analyst estimate compiled by Thomson First Call of 9 cents a share. Revenue is anticipated to be $102 million, missing analyst projections of $113.2 million, due primarily to customer delays in launching new programs. For 2005, the maker of power conversion products now expects revenue to grow 8 to 12% vs. prior forecasts of 15 to 20% growth. The stock closed Monday down 2 cents at $8.29.

Ameritrade 2Q EPS tops target, firm trims '05 outlook (7:41 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Online financial services firm Ameritrade Holding Corp
AMTD, -0.92%
said Tuesday it earned 17 cents per share, or $71 million in its second quarter, compared to 19 cents per share, or $81 million a year ago. The average analyst estimate for the company, according to Thomson First Call, was 16 cents per share. Ameritrade's revenue for the second quarter totaled $262.7 million, compared to $255.7 million, driven by a jump in interest revenue to $116.3 million from $66 million last year. The firm also trimmed its outlook for fiscal year 2005 results to a range of 77 cents to 87 cents per share. Ameritrade shares rose 16 cents on Monday, and closed at $10.70.

Abbott Labs matches Q1 forecast, reiterates '05 target (7:35 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Abbott Laboratories
ABT, -1.46%
on Tuesday reported first-quarter net income of $837.8 million, or 53 cents per share, up from $822.9 million, or 52 cents per share last year. Earnings from continuing operations increased 9.4% to 58 cents per share, excluding charges. The company was expected to earn 58 cents per share, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson First Call. Sales rose 16 percent to $5.38 billion. Abbott reiterated its 2005 earnings forecast of $2.47 to $2.53 per share, excluding one-time charges and the effect of new accounting rules to expense stock options. For the first time, the company provided a second-quarter target. It expects earnings per share of 56-58 cents, excluding one-time charges. Shares of Abbott Labs fell 11 cents to $47.75 on Monday.

Media General reports large Q1 loss due to acct. charge (7:33 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Media General
MEG, -0.60%
reported a 1Q loss of $316.2 million, or $13.25 a share, vs. a profit of $9.1 million, or 38 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Excluding a charge for a change in accounting, the company would have earned $9.3 million, or 39 cents a share, matching the average analyst estimate compiled by Thomson First Call. Revenue rose 4.7% to $217.9 million from last year's $208.2 million, topping analyst forecasts of $216.2 million, amid 5.7% growth in publishing revenue and a 1% rise in broadcast revenue. For 2Q, the media company expects publishing revenue to grow at a similar rate as 1Q and broadcast revenue is expected to rise at a slightly faster rate. The stock closed Monday down 12 cents at $60.88.

Mossimo founder offers $4/share for remaining stock (7:22 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Apparel designer Mossimo Inc.'s
MOSS
founder and 65% shareholder Mossimo Giannulli has offered to buy the outstanding publicly-held shares of the company for $4 a share in cash, representing a 20% premium to the closing share price on April 11. Giannulli expects the board to form a special committee of independent directors to consider the proposal with the assistance of outside financial and legal advisors, the company said in a statement.

Audiovox reports Q1 loss vs. year ago profit (7:12 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Audiovox
VOXX, -1.82%
reported a 1Q loss of $1.2 million, or 5 cents a share, vs. a profit of $1.9 million, or 8 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Gross margins declined 1.7 percentage points to 13.9 percent due to price declines in mobile videos and DVDs. Revenue fell 14% to $115.98 million from last year's $135.36 million, amid a 16% drop in mobile electronics sales. The maker of consumer electronics said that although profits and margins were lower than anticipated, results should improve in the second half of the year, so it reiterated its sales growth forecast for 2005 of 3% to 8%. The stock closed Monday down 22 cents at $13.32.

KarstadtQuelle higher as it raises op. profit outlook (6:01 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Troubled German retailer KarstadtQuelle AG(DE:627500)shares jumped 3.4% as it raised its outlook for operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to over 500 million euros, higher than its earlier forecast. It said sales in 2004 fell 6.8% to 13.45 billion euros and loss before before tax and amortization was 191 million euros, better than its own forecasts. In current trading, KarstadtQuelle said sales dropped 8.6% in the first quarter, gaining ground in February and March after a "weak start" in January.

Deutsche Boerse shares up as buyback begins Wednesday (3:24 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Deutsche Boerse(DE:581005)shares rose 1.6% in morning German trade as it said it will begin its buyback of up to 10% of its shares on Wednesday. The share buyback will end on May 20, two trading days before the exchange's annual general meeting. On March 7, Deutsche Boerse CEO Werner Siefert announced a "significant distribution of funds to shareholders in addition to the suggested dividend" as it withdrew its proposed bid for the London Stock Exchange(UK:LSE)under pressure from America and British institional investors to return the cash rather than conduct an expensive LSE takeover.

UK's UBC to invest $756,000 for digital radio download (2:56 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- British digital and analogue commercial radio stations operator UBC Media Group(UK:UBC)plans to invest 400,000 pounds ($756,000) in a service that allows music to be downloaded over digital radio. The group expects a charge in the March 2006 year as a result. Citing marketing spending, UBC said it expects to break even on an operating level in the March 2006 year.

LexisNexis estimates data on 310,000 people accessed (2:42 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier(UK:REL)
RUKENL, +0.79%
said a review of two years of data search activity found 59 incidents where personal identifying information from its U.S. risk management databases may have been acquired by fraud. Reed said its LexisNexis business estimates that information on around 310,000 U.S. individuals in total may have been accessed. Reed said that the incidents predominantly relate to misappropriation by third parties of IDs and passwords from legitimate customers of Seisint. It added that neither the LexisNexis nor the Seisint technology infrastructure has been breached by hackers nor was any customer data compromised or accessed in these incidents. Reed reiterated that the financial implications of the unauthorixed access to LexisNexis databases "are expected to be manageable within the context of LexisNexis' overall growth." The group maintained expectations of 2005 targets for at least 5% organic revenue growth and double-digit adjusted earnings growth at constant currencies.

Fortis to buy Turkey's Disbank for 985M euros (2:36 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Dutch and Belgian bank Fortis NV(NL:30086)said it will acquire Turkey's seventh largest privately-owned bank Disbank for a total consideration of 985 million euros ($1.28 billion). It signed an agreement with Disbank's majority shareholders - the Dogan Group, the Dogan family and two funds - to acquire 89.3% of Disbank's shares, and Fortis will make a public bid for the remaining 10.7% of shares. Fortis said the deal will be earnings per share accretive as of 2006. Disbank will be rebranded under the Fortis brand eventually.

Tullow Oil 04 profits triple but miss forecasts (2:28 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Tullow Oil(UK:TLW), the FTSE 250-listed exploration group, said Tuesday that 2004 profits more than tripled to 32.95 million pounds, with revenue up 74% to 225.3 million pounds, on high oil and gas prices as well as "good operational performance." But the basic EPS rise to 6.18p per share missed Thomson First Call-compiled estimates at 8.72p per share. Tullow said oil and gas prices are expected to remain strong, and said the favorable gas pricing environment in the U.K. will continue.

Tesco ops surged 20.5% to GBP 2bln, sees 'normal' year (2:22 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Tesco Plc.(UK:TSCO), the largest supermarkets group in Britain, posted a 20.5% surge in profits ahead of tax and items to 2 billion pounds, in line with the estimates, as sales rose 12.4% to 37.1 billion pounds for the year ending Feb. 26. Same-store sales rose in the double-digits in the U.K. and its international operations. In the U.K., non-food sales rose 17% to 6 billion pounds; the group also said it's signed up a million customers in its telecom services business. The annual dividend payout to holders is set to rise 10.5% to 7.56 pence a share. Looking ahead, Tesco said: "One-off factors, including the full year effect of our acquisition in Japan last year and the pattern of our growth in Korea, contributed to an unusually large proportion of the year's profit growth being in the first half. We expect profit growth in the current year to be much more normally spread."

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